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Castle Drawings

These castle drawings were done with a mechanical pencil holding a 2B lead. Talk about an inexpensive pastime!

Pencil drawing is one hobby that won't cost you much if you want to experiment to see if you like it. All you need is a pencil and some paper and we all have those lying around our homes.

Here is a very basic castle drawing outline to copy for your project.

I did this drawing for my husband and he had a definite view of how a castle should look. It took a while before he agreed this was the type of castle he had in mind.

On my paper, I had lots of scrawled images and outlines, and I experimented until I thought my castles looked as though they were in perspective.

I like to keep a slip of paper under my hand while I'm drawing to prevent any smudging that might occur.

That paper had a dual purpose while I was doing these pencil drawings of castles because I used it to gauge the lines of the castle walls receding in the distance,
they needed to be on an angle to create the illusion of distance from the eye.

I don't use rulers or anything to do the lines because I wouldn't be satisfied if I didn't draw them in myself. It's a personal choice though, it is fine if you prefer to use a ruler.

As usual, I will be providing you with some facts about castles. By the time I'm finished with you, you'll have a great depth of knowledge!

The History of Castles

Castles were built for protection during the Middle Ages when countries across Europe were constantly at war with each other.

A castle was used as...

a home for a feudal lord or a King;

a fortress for the people on the land;

a prison;

a place to guard treasure

The feudal lord and his family lived on the top floor of the Keep because that was the strongest part of the castle.

Castles were built in strategic positions for defense. If they were built on a cliff, the Lord didn't have to worry about defending the cliff side.

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A lot of castles were built on top of steep hills. The castles built on level ground were given the extra protection of an outer wall and a moat. A moat is a deep water filled ditch. These castles also had a drawbridge for access across the moat.

The grounds inside the castle walls were so large, villagers could build their own huts to live in. Depending on their size, castles could house thousands of people.

A wall-walk runs right around the top of the thick stone outer walls. Towers jutted out from the walls for extra protection. The soldiers or villagers could fight the enemy from three directions from within the towers.

You can imagine how much of a tourist attraction they are today since they are completely steeped in history. I wouldn't like to be paying for the upkeep of a castle though.

This is a drawing of a Spanish Castle, also known as an alcazar. Each country/culture/century has very different types of castles.

So if this isn't how you imagine a castle, then that's ok, because for every person I asked, each one preferred a different castle drawing.

A Little Practice Goes a Long Way...

This drawing is my very first attempt of a castle from imagination. (Believe me, it isn't easy sharing these awful castle drawings - I do it in the hope of inspiring you to do better!)

It looks like an early childhood drawing but I'm thinking maybe my knowledge about castles hasn't increased much in the intervening years.

I didn't use a reference picture so I'm pretty proud of it being from my imagination when I was a raw beginner artist.

My lines are very crooked and the perspective is incorrect which is normal when we first start to draw.

The other castle drawings should provide you with some ideas to generate pictures in your imagination.

The information provided here is to help you create a realistic drawing of a castle. When I did my research on castles, I know I learned some facts that I didn't know previously.

I found I had fun drawing the castle on a hill, drawing the mountains in the background and experimenting with how the earth around the castle appeared. Sometimes I get a nice surprise, just with the effect that the pencil generates on certain types of paper.

Truthfully, I am not concerned about being a professional artist because I want the freedom and fun of being a hobby artist. I hope you indulge in this journey of learning with me and to just have fun.

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